Take-up drum for photoprinter



g- 1958 T. A. GUNTER 2,848,176

TAKE-UP DRUM FOR PHOTOPRINTER Filed June 17, 1955 FIG.3.

INVENTOR. THEODORE A.GUNTER.

My M

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent '0 2,848,176 TAKE-UP DRUM FOR PHOTOPRINTER Theodore A. Gunter, Baltimore, Md.

Application June 17, 1955, Serial No. 516,093

3 Claims. (Cl. 242 72) This invention relates to machines for the printing of photographic strips and more particularly to drums or spindles for carrying the taking up roll of positive prints on a rapid printing machine as they are processed.

In a certain type ,of commercially available photographic machine employed for the rapid printing of flexible paper prints from Celluloid films, the sensitized paper is mounted on a supply spindle or drum in a roll and is unwound by being pulled over a series of pulleys by the pulling tension of a take-off spindle rotated by a motor. In its travel, the sensitized paper is aligned with a negative located suitably. The activating mechanism for making it transmit its pictorial details and print them on the positive printing surface provided by the paper, provides the necessary means for its development. The take-off spindle, as it is commercially termed, provides the necessary tension for pulling the paper through the mechanism and as a means for winding up the exposed printing paper in a roll. It is customary to attach the end of the paper to the collecting roll sleeve with adhesive paper or Scotch tape. This takes an appreciable amount of time and effort. It is also 'a considerable item of cost. In fact, the use of the machine in conventional prac tice, requires quantities of Scotch" tape amounting to several hundreds of dollars worth in a year, even though obtained at Wholesale rates. Further the Sctch tape brings about a number of problems of its own, due to its stickiness, irregularity of cutting; misplacement during the attachment of the paper on the spindle (often enough to cause it to run out of line, and to require readjustment), trouble experienced in getting the tape off its own roll, as well as on the paper and spindle or collecting roll at the end of a run. In this invention the Scotch tape is made unnecessary by the use of an auxiliary drum placed on the spindle and adapted to secure the feeding end of the printed paper, as well as fit adjustably tight on the spindle. This enables the roll of printed photographic paper to become a separate unit removable from the spindle easily and quickly, and processed to meet the requirements of the customers for their individual prints, cut from the roll.

It is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved take-up drum for a photographic printing machine that will avoid some of the disadvantages and limitations of the prior art.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved take-up drum for a photographic printing machine that can fasten the printed medium to the drum without the use of fastening material such as Scotch tape and the like, and perform the functions intended of it effectively.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a photographic machine a new and improved take-up means for securing the printed positive copies of the negatives in the form of a roll that will be self securing and designed to hold the copies in place without the use of adhesive material and provide for the easy removal of the printed copies from the take-up drum.

An additional object of the invention is to provide 'a new and improved take-up drum that will serve as an auxiliary device to the conventional take-up spindle pro vided in the assembly of a photographic printing machine; and enabling the printed copies processed in the latter to be secured to the drum and wound up thereon without the use of additional fastening means; and when so wound, to be removable as a unit.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent as it is described inmore detail. 7

For a better understanding of the invention and the objects thereof, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which a particular form of the invention is indicated by way of example, the details of construction and the method of operation of which are described in the following specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a take-off drumembodying thisinvention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of a conventional photographic printing machine on which the drum indicated in Figure 1 is mounted; it is displayed inorder to portray the general operation of the printing machine and takeoff drum; and

Figure 3 is a detail in elevation of a portion of the split rings used in the structure of the drum.

Similar reference characters refer to the same parts through the drawings.

Referring to Figure 1, which shows the structure of an auxiliary take-off drum 10, adapted for placement on the conventional take-off spindle 11 of a photographic printing machine 12. The machine 12 is of a commercial type used by the photographic trade, and is rhdtor operated. The motor (not shown) rotates the shaft 13 of the take-off spindle 11 and provides the necessary tension to pull the photographic paper 14 through the machine and Wind the latter up. The sensitized paper 14 runs about 1000 feet to aroll and is supplied in a roll 15 and mounted on a supply spindle 16'. The spindles 11 and 1 6 are supported on the Wall of a frame 17 designed to retain all the parts in position. A base 18 supports the frame. The paper 14' is carried from the roll 15 and run over an idler pulley 19 thence continuing over an aligning pulley 20. The paper 14 passes through the printing section 21 in a horizontal directien to follow through on another aligning pulley 22 at the opposite side. The paper 14 travels over an idler 23 suitably tensionedand is rotated over the take off drum 10 and wound'up into a roll, and ready for delivery to'the developing machine. The operation is continuous until the whole roll 15 is used up. The mechanism, the materials and details involved in the machine producing the printed picture from the time it is unrolled from the spindle 16, follows established practice, and need not be described herein, as such is appreciated by those skilled in the art. It is not claimed to be a part of invention, although the latter is incidentally incorporated in it to function and improve the machine.

The take-off drum 10, in the form illustrated, coin prises a pair of split end rings 24 spaced apart to the Width of the paper 14. They are assigned to o en up slightly and leave an "angular separatiefi 25 between their individual ends. The separation can be varied adjustahly by means of a screw 26 passing into the end portidns of the rings. The serew may tighten or loosen each ring to establish the desired clamping hold, on the takeoff spindle used. Transverse bars or spacers 27 extend between the rings and hold them apart in a substantial manner. The bars 27 are adjustably held in place by fastening their end portions into the rings. The bars are spaced to keep the frame of the drum as open as desirable 3 and also to make the latter conform with the Width of paper to be wound up on it.

A recess 28 is provided in a selected portion of each ring 24 and holds the bent end flanges 29 of a transverse flexure fastening plate 30. The flanges 29 are preferably held in place by screws 31 and maintain the level of the plate 30 preferably in line with the peripheral plane of the rings so the end of the photographic paper can he slipped under it easily, and the paper wound on the take-off drum smoothly and without humps. When the paper 14 is inserted, it is bent back so as to be held securely to the drum, ready for winding. The conventional spindle 11 has a slot in its periphery of limited size. A key block 33 is provided on one of the rings 24 to fit in the slot in the spindle 11 and rotate the take-01f drum 10.

The drum 10 is employed in the following manner. It is slipped laterally on to the spindle 11 after its split rings have been properly adjusted to fit it. This adjustment may be accomplished by the screws 26 or the normal resiliency of the rings in some instances can do this. The key block 33 is fitted in place in the slot 32 in the spindle 11. Then the paper 14 has its end portion slipped in under the thin fastening plate 30 for a short distance and bent back on itself to lay flat on the periphery of the rings 24 and be wound thereon to make the paper taut and pulling on the paper already located on and threaded over the various pulleys 23, 22, 20, 19 and spindle 16 on which the roll of paper is mounted. The sensitized paper is then ready for printing as it passes through the section 21. The motor is started and revolves the take-up spindle 11 with the drum 10 attached to it. This pulls the paper through the machine, prints it, and

rolls it up on the take-off drum 10. When the roll 15 of paper is used up, and transferred to the drum 10, the latter forms the foundation for the printed roll. The drum 10 with the printed roll on it is then removed, and another unfilled drum is mounted in its place. The drum 10 with the printed roll is then taken by the operator and developed, cut out, and sorted out to be placed in booklets and separate envelopes for delivery to the various customers. The next roll of paper 15 is placed on the spindle 16 and the process repeated.

The roll of printed film is held on to the drum without the use of Scotch tape or other adhesive material. The plate 30 does this and accomplishes it in a more expeditious manner. Also if the feeding end of the printed paper is torn or uneven, it is inserted far enough under the fastening plate 30 until the irregular end is out of the Way inside the drum Without needing to be trimmed or otherwise made to fit.

It can be bent to bring the attachment on the plate at any location of the paper desired at insertion. Another exceptional feature, is the facility with which the printed roll may be removed from the drum in its entirety. This is accomplished by inserting the fingers inside the drum through the openings provided by the rings, and detaching the inserted end of the paper at the fastening plate 39, and giving it a slight rotative movement to release it. The printed roll may then he slipped off the drum and the latter reused immediately.

This take-olf drum offers many advantages over the conventional arrangement for winding up the printed photographic paper on a card board sleeve to which it is attached by Scotch tape or gummed paper, and then placed in the machine referred to. It saves time, avoids many difficulties especially those involved in the use of Scotch tape to hold the printed paper to the cardboard, sleeve, and in doing so does not require much additional cost. Such additional cost as may be required is offset by the saving of many times the expense involved in adding it to the machine. Since the drum is open, it is light and to a certain extent avoids damage to the sur face of the printing, and in fact also improves the printing capacity of the machine. It can be kept clean because of this avoidance of contact surface, and thereby While but one general form of the invention is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, it is not desired to limit this application for patent to this particular form as it is appreciated that other forms of construction could be made that would use the same principles and come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

l. A take-off drum comprising in combination, a plurality of rings spaced from each other in parallel relation, bars projecting from the walls of said rings and rigidly holding them together, a fastening plate extending between the rings and mounted on the periphery thereof and adapted to hold photographic paper rolled thereon, said ring being arranged to slip over the take-up spindle of a photographic machine and hold themselves thereon, said rings being split to enable them to be adjusted to fit on various sized spindles, and means for adjusting the split rings to increase and decrease the diameter thereof.

2. A take-off drum comprising in combination, a plurality of rings spaced from each other in parallel relation, bars projecting from the walls of said rings and rigidly holding them together, a fastening plate extending be tween the rings and mounted on the periphery thereof and adapted to hold photographic paper rolled thereon, said rings being arranged to slip over the take-up spindle of a photographic machine and hold themselves thereon, said rings being split to enable them to be adjusted to fit on various sized spindles, means for adjusting the split rings to increase and decrease the diameter thereof, means on one of the rings for driving the drum by said spindle, said fastening plate being held in line with the periphery of the rings to facilitate the insertion of the feeding end portion of said paper underneath it into the space provided in the drum between the rings.

3. A take-01f drum comprising in combination, a plurality of rings spaced from each other in parallel relation, bars projecting from the walls of said rings and rigidly holding them together, a fastening plate extending between the rings and mounted on the periphery thereof and adapted to hold photographic paper rolled thereon, said rings being arranged to slip over the takeup spindle of a photographic machine and hold themselves thereon, said rings being split to enable them to be adjusted to fit on various sized spindles, means for adjusting the split rings to increase and decrease the diameter thereof, means on one of the rings for driving the drum by said spindle, said fastening plate being held in line with the periphery of the rings to facilitate the insertion of the feeding end portion of said paper underneath it into the space provided in the drum between the rings, said rings being open to allow access to the interior of the drum for manipulating the said inserted end portion of the paper therein, a slot being provided under the periphery of said fastening plate to bring the plate closer to the center of the ring and to facilitate the insertion of the end of said paper in back of the plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Switzerland Nov. 16, 1954 

